There's a Welsh sheep farmer who always drops in to see us at the Midland Game Fair. I look forward to catching up with him each year, and hearing the latest news in his struggle with the local big cat population - or whatever it is that keeps nabbing his sheep. He's convinced it's a big cat, and having seen some of his photos of mangled sheep it's hard to argue with that.
He has just sent me this photo of a fox that was shot one night at 1.30am and hung on the barbed wire fence. When the farmer went to collect it at 9.30am, it had been half eaten by... well, what do you think?
3 comments:
Big cats? In Britain? Huh?! I was totally unaware you had mountain lions over there -- or are you referring to bobcats?
Ah well, officially we don't - but I know plenty of people who live and work in the countryside and are 100% convinced that there are big cats living wild here. The theory is that they are descended from escapees from private collections, or animals deliberately released when new laws came into force in the 1970s - although there were sightings pre-1976. Species? Well, there is plenty of evidence for lynx, leopard cats and jungle cats; some reported sightings suggest leopard or puma. The subject inevitably attracts a number of hoaxers and nutters, which clouds the issue, but there seems little doubt that there are some big cats living in the remoter parts of Britain. Some sightings etc documented here www.scottishbigcats.co.uk and here www.ukbigcats.co.uk. Plus Tim Relf at Field Day has been following the subject here www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/rural-life/
Howdy Fellows,
I have a neighbor Here in Florida, that has seven or eight siberian tigers, One really big lion, four wolves, two leopards, one black jaguar (or a melanistic leopard, I can't tell.), two or three caravels (sp)(long legged cats.), a lynx, cougar, and one big 'ol fat black bear that loves honey and bee larvae! I know I've missed a couple or three but I can't remember.
If we ever get a nasty hurricane and any of those pens come down... I hope two things, that they get some of those kids that live up the street, and that nothing bad happens to the cats. Or the bear; she's really sweet.
BTW they're all rescue animals from the numbnuts here that get them and then figure out that they don't eat Meow Mix or Fancy feast in small quantities!
But more to the point, If they did get loose and managed to avoid getting run over, shot, or otherwise, there are several thousand acres for them to roam around within a couple hundred yards. There's cattle, wild hogs, rabbit, dogs, chickens, ducks, and small children all over the place. They could conceivably survive.
Wouldn't that be something?
Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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